


Awakening

by Gundarkears57 (jamurdock)



Series: Correlian Journey [1]
Category: Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-18
Updated: 2014-06-23
Packaged: 2018-02-05 04:45:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1805788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jamurdock/pseuds/Gundarkears57
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set between Han Solo's rescue and the Battle of Endor.</p>
<p>Han is back among friends, but is not entirely whole.  Neither is Luke.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Arrival at Ryloth

The vidscreen flickered into focus, revealing an aged Twi-lek male who regarded Leia with what looked like thinly veiled contempt. She was unphased, looking back at him with quiet confidence. Mon Mothma and Ulee stood by her side.

“The leaders of the Rebel Alliance offer you our greetings, Prince regent Thorel.” Leia, Mon Mothma and Ulee bowed to the image on the screen. He did not bow in return. He looked doubtfully at the three women.

“You are the leaders of the Rebel Alliance?”  
“There are many leaders of the Alliance, Prince Regent, representing each of the many peoples oppressed by the Imperial Regime.” Leia answered “Each of us serves according to our gifts.”  
Mon Mothma continued sedately. “If you wish to deal with the Alliance then you will be dealing with Princess Organa and me.” Thorel seemed to grumble under his breath, looking with particular rancor at Ulee, who was dressed as regally as the other two women. Mothma ignored this and continued, “We are hoping that we may come to an agreement with your system so that your needs as well as ours may be well served.”

The old Twi-lek seemed to sigh resignedly. “Very well. I agree to meet with you. But I make no promises.” Thorel puffed himself out slightly. “Ryloth has traditionally maintained its distance from galactic politics.”

Leia looked intently at Thorel. “It is a dangerous time to be isolationist, Prince Regent. The Emperor has already begun a systematic occupation of any system whose raw materials are of use to his fleet. They are targeting systems that are more remote and have few allies…and they are especially harsh to planets with non-human populations.”

Thorel bristled at this, but there was a trace of fear in his watery eyes. “We will talk. We will see.” He said brusquely. “My assistants will contact you with landing instructions.” His image blinked out. Leia turned to the communications officer sitting nearby, who nodded to her; he was receiving a subspace message from Ryloth.

“Well, that went as well as it could have.” Mothma breathed out as she took a seat at a conference table they had been standing in front of during their transmission. “We knew their society was patriarchal and that they consider the female gender to be inferior. Thorel is at least intelligent enough not to insult us directly.”  
Leia nodded, taking a seat herself. It was amazing how exhausting diplomacy could be. “They must realize how perilous their situation is if they are willing to meet with the two of us.”  
“I would agree. That is our strength. They have little or no planetary defense systems and rich metal deposits in their northern hemisphere. Our operatives told us recently that a garrison of storm troopers landed a month ago and they have already begun confiscating ore shipments earmarked for trade. They’re in trouble and they know it.”

As they talked and planned, Ulee sat near them, listening. Leia watched the girl out of the corner of her eye. Ulee was looking at them with intensity.   
Leia had grown fond of Ulee these past months. She had made herself useful to them in so many ways. She was the first Twi-lek the Alliance had encountered in its travels, and Leia had immediately sought to learn about this new culture from Ulee. The girl was illiterate, and had not traveled far from her birth home in a small city in the Northern regions. She did not know a great deal about her planet’s politics, economics or natural resources, but Leia was able to learn a great deal from her nonetheless. Ulee had given them so much good information, combined with information from Mothma’s planted operatives, that they had learned enough to begin a diplomatic relationship with Ryloth. Contact had been initiated subspace in coded form, and with Ulee’s help they had slowly begun to win the system’s trust. Ulee had offered several opening words of friendship in Ryloth’s most ancient language. It had been a great help. It had ultimately led to the transmission that had just occurred. And it was an important planet for the Alliance to get to know, because their metal deposits might be the key to solving their problems with the Calamarians.

There were a few young Calamarians who had joined the Alliance as fighters, pilots and technicians, but the planet Calamari remained uncommitted. And as long as the planetary government remained uncommitted, Admiral Ackbar, a decorated hero of the old republic and a friend of Leia’s late father, could not join their fight.

Leia was certain he would if they could just win over his government. He had been treated with great disrespect by the Imperial government, forced to retire and live with barely enough to support his family on his home planet, watching as the Empire gradually stripped his people of everything. He was a brilliant strategist and fighter. They would need him in the battles to come.

The metal ore might do it. Calamari was mostly covered by oceans. The main source of industry on the planet centered around harvesting marine resources, which necessitated the building of water transports, ships, submarines and underwater facilities, which in turn necessitated the use of non corrosive metals. The Imperials had cut off their source of trade, and ever since they had been forced to recycle and subsist using their own resources, which were few. If the Alliance could offer them a source of metal ores, they might commit to them, and Ackbar would be able to join them, too.

Her meeting with Mothma was ending. Leia would go now to report to the other leaders before preparing to journey with Mon Mothma to Ryloth for their meeting with Thorel. Ulee left Leia’s side to go and prepare their belongings for travel. She had proven to be a gifted personal assistant, although Leia had never formally asked her to become one. When she was not assisting Leia, Ulee was undergoing training to become a medic in the infirmary. This had been Luke’s idea, and the girl had taken to this training like a natural. What better place for an empath than a sick bay?

Leia still marveled at the good fortune that had placed Ulee in Jabba’s Palace during the time of Han’s imprisonment. As they had cared for Han in the Trafalgian ship after his rescue, Luke had recognized the sand scorpion bites still healing on Han’s skin. He had pulled her aside and told her with chilling frankness just how close Han had come to death. Luke had been bitten by a sand scorpion when he’d been a boy, and only the quick action of his Aunt Beru had saved his life. That had been only one bite. Luke said he could still remember the intense pain he had experienced, and he had been given painkillers as well as antivenum. Han had eleven healing scars, and had received no such care. If the combined powers of Luke, herself and Ulee had not been there to relieve Han of that impossible pain…

Leia sighed heavily as she made her way to a transport that would take her to the Allegiance where the leaders meeting would take place. So many emotions had assailed her in that throne room months ago as she had watched Han walk in. Overwhelming relief to see him relatively in one piece, rage at his captors for his obvious ill treatment, and then gut wrenching alarm when he had made that insane request to free Ulee…Leia had wanted to strangle Han for that. Months of planning and work to set up this rescue and he would blow it all in one stupid, maddeningly noble altruistic move. Of course in the same moment her heart had leaped for joy, because she knew Han was intact. They hadn’t broken him. He was still the same Han, ready to rescue a damsel in distress even if it might mean lights out for himself.

But relieved as they had all been to have him back, things had not gone as happily in these past few months as Leia had hoped they would. She had spent every spare moment she could in the sick bay during his recovery. At first he had seemed happy to have her there, but as he grew stronger and more restless, he became frustrated with her and the medical droids for keeping him there. Not unexpected. She had tried to make light of it, and so had he, and eventually the droids released him and he’d returned to the honorary consultant role he had held for the Alliance in the past. 

But after that he began to become distant. As busy as Mon Mothma kept her, Leia had hoped Han would seek out her company more often, and that something further would happen between them. But each time she saw him his eyes seemed to have hollowness to them. He had managed to gain back some of the weight he’d lost, but he still looked thin, and tired, as though he hadn’t been sleeping. He was no longer the irreverent jester he had been. The most she could get out of him was a sad smile.

Finally the anger had come. Han seemed to walk around with a permanent chip on his shoulder, snapping at people left and right. The young pilots who had looked up to him were confounded by this, and melted away whenever they saw him coming through the hangar bays. Even Chewbacca was perplexed, and was so hurt by his friend in one incident that he shut himself up in his cabin in the Falcon and refused to come out for a full week. The only person who seemed able to effect a change in Han’s demeanor was Ulee. Whenever he encountered her he would soften, use kind words, and gentle touches. Leia was almost jealous. The look in his eyes whenever he looked at Leia was troubling. There was anger in them, and anguish, too, and it wasn’t just directed at everyone in general, but seemed to be directed at her. She was mystified, and deeply hurt. 

Ironically even though Han’s bedside manner may have deteriorated, he had never worked so hard for the Alliance. Any ship that needed fixing, any mission that needed flying, any transport that needed air support, Han was there. Often curt and rude, but he got every job done and did it well, as he always had. Although recently Lieutenant Wedge, still the Alliance’s best fighter pilot (besides Luke), had come to her looking anxious.

“Princess Organa, may I speak to you?”  
“Wedge, of course. You don’t have to be formal with me.”  
He shuffled a bit, looking at her doubtfully.  
“It’s about Han, isn’t it?”  
Wedge nodded. “Leia, he’s a tremendous help to us, and I have no reason to ground him. But I’m worried about him. He flies like he has a vendetta against the stars. I tried to talk to him about it in the pilot locker room and he almost bit my head off.”

Leia had nodded, gravely, not knowing what to tell Wedge or what to do. She had tried to talk to Han several different times herself and gotten the same response no matter how carefully she’d approached him. In fact it seemed like the more careful she was the more angrily he responded. Battle strategies were easier to figure out than this was.

And in spite of this strange attitude towards her and everyone, Han continued to look out for her in the most distant, left handed ways. Although he barely spoke to her or looked her way, he kept appearing wherever she was working, and then vanishing before she could interact with him. The few times she and Mothma had flown down to the surface of a system on diplomatic business, the Falcon could be seen flying in formation with them. He was still present in the planning rooms, although much less vocal. He mostly offered information that either supported or rejected ideas already being debated, rather than offer alternative courses of action as he had in the past. 

When she’d first seen him in that throne room Leia had known that it would take Han’s mind a lot longer to recover from this than his body would. She knew something about that. But she had not expected him to cut himself off so completely from all of the people who cared about him. 

And then there was Luke. The one person she really needed right now, and he kept disappearing. She understood the reasons and agreed with them, but it was so hard to handle all this without him. His Jedi powers had become very strong, and it was too dangerous to the Alliance for him to be with them for long periods of time because Vader and the Emperor could “sense” him. This was why they had been discovered on Hoth. So Luke kept disappearing in his X wing, only occasionally returning for a day or two, then leaving again. And the piece of news he had given her during his last visit…she was still reeling from it.


	2. Not ready yet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Han's post traumatic stress, and some gentle Wookie wisdom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I always thought Chewbacca was undervalued. It's pleasant to write some sensitivity into his character.

_They were close behind him, and the sand was so deep he couldn’t run fast enough to get away from them. They were going to catch him, and whatever came next he would never survive it, and he couldn’t run fast enough, his feet kept sinking, he couldn’t get away, he couldn’t stop them…_

 

Han sat bolt upright in his bunk, gasping, covered in cold sweat, as he had dozens of times in these past weeks. He pounded his fist into the blankets. Another damned dream. He was so exhausted. All he wanted was one good night’s sleep, but it kept eluding him.

Chewbacca poked his great head into Han’s cabin, barking anxiously.

  
“No, Chewie. I’m fine. Go back to sleep.”

  
The wookie lingered in the cabin doorway, looking doubtfully at Han, appearing to run through a list of things he might do for his friend that would be helpful, and that would not make Han angry as so many things did these days. Han sighed. He had to get a grip. Even Chewbacca was walking on eggshells around him.

“I tell ya what, Chewie. If you could bring me a cold glass of water that would be great.”

Chewbacca leapt eagerly to the task. Han watched him go. He didn’t really want the water, but it was nice to see his huge friend happy for a moment. He still felt terrible about taking out his frustrations so cruelly on Chewie a few weeks ago in the main hangar bay of the Allegiance. All that rage over the accidental scrambling of a navicomputer. It wasn’t even the Falcon’s. And in front of so many of the hangar crew…it had been mortifying for Chewbacca. It had taken a while to work through that incident with the wookie and win back his trust.

Han was as perplexed by his own behavior as everyone else was. He had never felt this way before, as though there was a constant fire burning inside him that seemed always on the verge of bursting out of him at the slightest provocation. He’d always been a cynic, and had never been even tempered to begin with, but he’d never had a fuse this short. And he couldn’t seem to find humor in anything; that was unusual, too.

But there was a reason for that.

For the thousandth time he went over in his mind what he had seen two months ago in a corner of the east hangar bay of the Defiance.

* * *

The Defiance lookouts had spotted Luke’s X-wing and reported his landing in the starboard hangar. Han had wanted to talk to Luke for a while, and had never really had the chance since his rescue. Once they had all returned and the medical droids had declared Han to be out of danger, Luke had taken off without telling anyone where he was going.

He was worried about the kid. And curious, too. Something profound had obviously happened to Luke, and Han hated to be out of the loop. Well, he was going to find out what was what now that Luke was back, and maybe there would be some time to reconnect, and piece some other things together that he’d been wondering about…

As he rounded a corner into the hangar, he saw Luke climbing down from his X-wing. The young man even seemed to move differently. Han remembered what Luke had been like only a few years ago. His walk had been exuberant, eager, as though he might be capable of flight if he had the proper headwind. He had lost much of that spring, and much of the bright light had left Luke’s eyes. It had been replaced by something else. And although Luke moved more cautiously now, Han had the impression that he had more control over himself than anyone he’d ever seen. He’d been through some kind of trial by fire. Well, Han could certainly relate to that.

Before he could make his way around a B-wing that stood between him and the X-wing, Leia came running up from a different entrance and embraced Luke. Han stopped and watched, giving them a moment. Luke looked so happy to see her, his eyes closing as he hugged her close.

Then Luke pulled Leia aside, speaking to her intently, sitting her down on a bench and taking her hands in his. Han could see both of their profiles now, but he was too far away to hear what they were saying. Luke was still speaking. The look in his eyes was tender, and he caressed Leia’s hands as he spoke. Leia seemed to be in a trance, her eyes were open wide, her head tipped to one side, as if in disbelief. She shook her head slightly, speaking back to Luke. Luke shrugged gently, answering. Then all at once they both seemed to melt towards each other, laughing, touching each other’s faces, talking again, and then embracing with intense emotion.

Han had backed slowly away, a million things running through his mind, a dull ache beginning down in his gut.

* * *  
Luke and Leia. Well, of course. It made sense. But it was hard to take.

Ever since then Han had pulled away from everyone, and the nightmares that he’d been having had become ten times worse. He couldn’t figure out how to feel about it. They were two of his best friends, and he felt betrayed. But he wasn’t sure how strong a claim he really had on Leia. He’d thought something was beginning for them, but maybe he’d been wrong. Who would really be the better man for her, a committed leader of the Alliance who had everything in common with her, or a jaded pirate like himself?

The odd thing was that Leia’s behavior towards him never changed. He’d wanted nothing to do with that. What did she think that she could have them both?

He sighed heavily, flexing his hands and wrists. They were still not quite back to normal. The medical droids had assigned him to return to the sick bay for physical therapy sessions, but he hadn’t gone. His version of therapy had been putting the Falcon through some rigorous maneuvers on the patrols he had been flying. He refused to accept that his piloting skills might have been permanently damaged by his experience as Jabba’s prisoner, and pushed his body ruthlessly in defiance of the idea.

The burning feeling inside him began again as he thought of the Hutt who had used him as a gambling mark. He’d find a way to make Jabba pay for that someday. He looked out of his porthole at the stars. He’d found himself looking at them more and more often lately. The idea of flying off into them formed somewhere in the back of his mind.

Chewie came back with the water. Suddenly he found that he was thirsty after all. The water was cold and clear. He shouldn’t be taking it for granted…the warm rancid water he’d had to live on all those weeks…Chewie wurfed politely.

“No thanks, I’m really not hungry.”

  
_“You have not been eating. I am worried.”_

  
Han sighed again, looking at his friend. He did not wish to offend the wookie, but he did not want to talk about why he wasn’t hungry.

“Just not in the mood lately.”

  
“ _I wish to help. You have not been yourself.”_

  
Han eyed Chewie with some irritation. “And how do you figure that?”

  
The wookie situated himself on the single bench in the cabin and regarded Han with all of the wisdom of his two hundred and seven years shining out of his golden eyes.

  
“ _Before your captivity, you would have made a joke just now about how I am trying to fatten you up. Instead your eyes go down and you say you do not feel like eating. This is not like you.”_

Han looked doubtfully at the wookie for a moment, then shook his head “Chewie—“

“ _You went through a time of great pain and fear, and it is still inside you. It is trying to come out in your dreams, because you are not letting it go. When a warrior goes through such a time, he must let the memory go.”_

Han just stared at Chewbacca, not knowing what to say to that.

But the wookie had more to say.

“ _I have been watching the Princess. She is not eating well either, and her eyes are often looking down. This does not seem right to me.”_

Han bristled at this and began to get up, moving to put his boots on. He was awake, anyway, and he could use a walk.

“She’s just missing Luke. He’ll be back soon enough and her eyes’ll brighten right back up again.”

Chewie tipped his great head sadly. “ _It is not good to hold bad memories inside.”_

Han turned on the wookie, “Well it’s not as if I can have the medical droids surgically remove them is it?”

He instantly regretted his words. His large friend rose to his feet and was turning away to leave.

“Chewie,” said Han, sitting down heavily on his bunk again, closing his eyes. Chewbacca looked down at him. “I’m sorry. I hear what you’re trying to say.”

The wookie uttered a low, comforting growl for which there was no direct translation.

  
“I know.” Sighed Han, looking out at the stars again. “I’m just not ready yet.”


	3. Landing party

Ulee made her way through the hallways of the medical frigate, intent on reaching the sickbay. Princess Leia and Commander Mothma were leaving for her home world’s surface in two hours, and she had much preparing to do as their cultural attaché, translator and medical technician.

She was still often overwhelmed by the dramatic change in her fortunes. She had grown up on a planet where females were downtrodden, and lived for the past few years as a slave of the Hutts. She’d lost her family early in her life, she had never learned to read or write, and had not had a friend or anyone to count on in years. Her sensitive body had only ever been surrounded by people whose force signatures were dark, selfish and violent. Suddenly she was surrounded by people who, for Ulee, lit up the darkness of space with the warm colors of kindness, selflessness, and fierce loyalty. It often overwhelmed her senses, and occasionally she had found herself near tears and needing to hide herself away from her new friends lest she embarrass herself.

So many of these people inspired her. She had never met a female like Leia Organa. She had never encountered anyone whose capacity for love was so large. Ulee was awed by the power Leia commanded, and by the gentleness with which she wielded it. This woman led hundreds of men, and did it well. And Leia still had time to listen to Ulee’s tales of her home world in her broken Basic. So when Leia had offered her the chance to stay with them and serve their cause she had not hesitated to accept.

And then there was Commander Skywalker. The first time Luke had returned from his travels Ulee hoped to be able to spend time with this man who seemed to understand her strange powers, but she had never expected to be able to. A male Commander of the Alliance would certainly not have time for an alien female. Ulee had been raised never to approach a male, but to wait to be approached. So it had amazed her the first time Luke had actively sought her out and asked after her well being, speaking to her as if she were his equal. It was Luke who had then spoken to her about the Force, and invited her to show him what she could do. He had taught her a few small but valuable skills during his short visits with the Alliance, and she was effusively grateful to him. When she had asked him what she could do for him to repay him, he had simply asked her to look after Princess Leia, which she had been happy to do.

 

 

Threepio walked by her side. The protocol droid had been a companion to her since she had chosen to spend some of her time as Leia’s assistant. He had been teaching her Basic, and she found that in spite of his often anxious nature, she appreciated his company. She had spent so much of her life alone.

“We must hurry, Mistress Ulee, the diplomatic ship will be leaving in less than an hour, and we still have to get a shuttle back to the Defiance and have the Princess’s things packed…”

“Yes” agreed Ulee as they entered the sick bay. Two one Bee nodded to them as they made their way to the supply cupboards, and she began selecting the items they would need for this diplomatic visit to her home world. It was always slightly different for each system; the set of chemical and biological treatments for each planet varied according to the microbial flora and fauna of the system. Bacta serum could cure most ailments, but there were some stubborn microbes and toxins on some planets that required extra preparedness. Ulee knew well in this case what to bring, finding the list Two one Bee had prepared for her to be mostly superfluous. The histological scanner she had been taught to use was also more than she needed. Her Force sensitivity had always been able to tell her on her own planet which tissues in the body of a sick person were affected, and by what. This was not a gift she had ever enjoyed having, particularly during the plague year that had taken the lives of her family and most of her village. But at least now she had some knowledge of how to help a sick person.

Luke had helped her learn to use the Force as a healing aid. She was only starting to understand her ability, but with his help she had learned to absorb and dissipate pain from several of the patients she had treated since joining the Alliance. None of them had been experiencing anything like what Captain Solo had experienced on Tatooine, but it had given her confidence to succeed at easing the pain of the minor injuries that appeared in the sick bay. It had taken some courage, too, to be willing to open herself to the suffering of another person. She would always feel what they felt for a moment before the pain would dissolve from her, driven outward and away from her mind, as Luke had taught her to do.

But it was time to go. She closed the fasteners on the carisack she had filled, and she and Threepio hurried to return to the Defiance.

 **********

“How do you anticipate we’re going to be received?”

  
“I expect they’ll send a servant to meet us and bring us to a private meeting with Thorel. Ulee says a prominent male would risk too much by appearing to treat any strong female as an equal.”

  
Leia and Mothma were making their way to the diplomatic shuttle that would take them to Sri-lek, Ryloth’s largest southern city. The Prince Regent had his residence there, and exerted executive control over the southern populated regions while his father Orleku Jorath ruled the north. From what Ulee had told her, however, Leia suspected that their control over the planet was limited. Most of the people on Ryloth lived in scattered nests that recognized no centralized government, frequently warred amongst themselves and lived a harsh life in the mostly arid areas of the planet. The rill spice that some nests mined from the rocks in their regions had provided some connection and income. The planet’s trade income came from exporting the rill which could be converted into medicinal as well as recreational drugs. Although Leia and Mothma would be dealing with the leadership of the planet and the only ones who had command of the planet’s communications and transport technologies, Leia wondered if the Prince Regent and his father were truly where the political power resided on Ryloth.

Her mind was occupied with these questions when she heard Chewbacca’s low rumblings coming from the cockpit of their shuttle as she was seat belting herself in next to Ulee. She looked up suddenly just as Han reached over her to take Ulee’s carisack and lift it into an overhead compartment.

“Should be a smooth ride. No atmospheric anomalies, and there haven’t been any Imperials spotted in the area.” He said, looking down at Leia and Ulee, and then turning to Mothma who sat opposite them next to Threepio. “But you never know who might drop in looking for metal ore shipments,” and he looked directly at Leia with an unreadable expression in his eyes, “or Rebel Alliance Leaders traveling alone.”

He returned to the cockpit. Speechless, Leia looked questioningly at Mothma who had been looking intently at Leia. Mothma shrugged.

“Wedge Antilles was supposed to be our pilot. I guess Captain Solo stepped in at the last minute.” She settled into her seat and opened her data pad to review again some of the details of their offer to Thorel, pausing occasionally to converse with Threepio about the protocol of interacting with Twi-leks.

Leia recovered herself quickly in turn. She didn’t want Mothma thinking that she was personally distracted by Han’s presence on such an important mission. She opened her own data pad and engaged Ulee in a review of some of the photographic data their operatives had sent them over the past few weeks. As she reviewed the faces, names, and positions of the Rylothian royal house, and continued to learn from Ulee about the unphotographed leaders of the scattered nests in the south, the situation coalesced in Leia’s mind like pieces on a chess board. Earning the Prince’s trust was the key. He must come to believe that the Alliance’s support would be invaluable to him, and that trade with the Calamarians was not only possible, but essential to his planet’s economic survival. This was a tall order on such a backwater world, where females were considered second class citizens, and less than half the population was educated enough to understand the technologies on which they relied. She could only hope that Thorel felt as desperate as he had looked on the vidscreen a few hours ago.

She felt the ship rattle slightly as they entered Ryloth’s atmosphere. She looked towards the cockpit, and was startled to see Han looking back at her. Again, his expression was unfathomable. Their eyes locked for what seemed like a long moment. Despairing of reaching him with words, impulsively Leia reached out to him with her mind as she had done so many times during those nightmarish weeks when he was imprisoned on Tatooine. Because it felt like he was still gone, it felt like he was a million light years away and that she was more alone than she had been when she had feared he was dead.

_Why are you so distant, Han? Why won’t you let me in?_

But the moment was soon broken.

“Leia, do you have the file that includes the other smaller, remote systems that recently joined the Alliance?” Mothma asked, “Emphasizing them might be to our advantage.”

She turned her attention back to her mission, “Yes, but we have to be careful.” She had been considering this question already. “The benefits of joining our fight can’t simply be presented as being monetary. Whoever joins us has to know that the most important outcomes from this rebellion can’t be counted out in credits.”

She sighed mentally as she recalled how she’d accused Han of being a mercenary those many years ago in the Falcon’s cockpit. Confused as things were between them, she knew she would never doubt him in that way again. She wondered if he had overheard her, and might be recalling the same moment.

She turned back to look at him, but Han had returned to piloting the ship.


	4. Ryloth Welcome

They disembarked on a platform near the Prince Regent’s palace, if it could be called a palace. Like most dwellings in Sri lek, the edifice was hewn into the rocky side of a cliff. One could only guess at the size and number of chambers that lay beyond the great door they were lead through into the side of the mountain.

Leia and Mon Mothma went first, escorted as Leia had predicted by two male Twi-leks dressed in ornate armor and carrying bow casters. Threepio walked behind Leia, and Han and Chewie followed behind, also fully armed. The escorts did not speak Basic, and had reacted with some perplexity to the prominently decorated females. But still greater was the impression Chewbacca made on them both by his size and the bow caster he carried which was similar to their own weapons. This seemed to greatly impress them.

Han’s senses were bristling. He hated it when Leia did these planet side visits. She was completely vulnerable, with no military escort and her well being dependent on how well she and the Alliance leaders had read the needs and capabilities of her planetary hosts. He understood bringing a regiment down to protect her would give the wrong impression, but he couldn’t help feeling that whatever protection he and Chewie could offer would be woefully inadequate. If the Alliance had operatives here, it was certain the Empire did, too. If Imperial attention was really turned towards Ryloth and its metal ore deposits then it was extremely dangerous for Leia and Mothma to be here.

But it wasn’t just these issues that were affecting Han. More peripherally, this desert planet and this stone palace were recalling Tatooine for him. In spite of himself, he shuddered as he heard the large metal door closing behind them.

They walked through a large hallway with a high ceiling and a polished stone floor. A beautiful female Twi-lek with green skin approached them. She wore a simple, silvery garment, and the two tentacles that hung down her back had been painted with delicate markings, also in silver. She, too, seemed surprised by Leia and Mothma’s prominence in their group, but she bowed to them in greeting,

“Commanders Organa and Mothma?”

  
Leia and Mothma nodded and bowed in return.

  
“I am Lena. A conference room has been prepared for you. Please follow me.”

They followed the girl through a series of smaller corridors to a room with a large table and high backed chairs. A small fountain sculpture of a dancing female Twi-lek formed the center piece of the table. Recessed lights illuminated other small pieces of art around the room.

“I will have refreshments brought to you immediately.” Said Lena. “The Prince Regent will be with you shortly.” She bowed again, still looking with wide eyes at Leia and Mothma, then curiously back at Han, before she finally left.

Threepio spoke first. “Well, they seem very welcoming and pleasant. I wonder if they would have facilities here for a droid to have an oil bath.”

Han let out a snort. “Before you go off granting yourself oil baths you might pay attention to the fact that our little escort there had no idea that ‘Commanders Organa and Mothma’ were going to be female. And we were channeled into this room with the least possible contact with anyone.”

He looked significantly at Leia. “Don’t look now but I think you’ve just been marginalized.”

Leia nodded, looking away from him. She had had the same impression. It was not unexpected, but she worried that in the interim between that vidphone conversation and their current visit, that Imperial contacts might have been talking to the Rylothians and leading them to believe that trading with the Empire might not be so bad. A lie of course. And usually she was able to steer government leaders away from believing Imperial promises. But these people were still at a very immature stage in their social development. Half of their population, their females, was disenfranchised. It might be that as much as she wished it, Ryloth would not be an appropriate system to recruit into the Alliance, metal ores or not.

Something else was tingling at the edge of her senses, though. They were not exactly being watched, but someone was tracking them. Someone not necessarily malevolent.

The door opened and a droid entered with a tray of refreshments, followed by a regally dressed Prince Thorel, two equally ornate male personal advisors, and Lena. Leia, Mothma and Ulee stood up in greeting, their palms facing out in the Rylothian sign of peace. The gesture was returned. Han and Chewbacca remained standing warily where they had been, their backs to the wall facing the door.

The Twi-leks and Alliance representatives bowed to each other respectfully. One advisor nodded towards Han and Chewbacca,

“We ask that your guard remain outside this conference room during our talk. You may be assured that this room is quite secure.”

Leia looked at Han and nodded to him. He looked anything but pleased, but nodded back. “We’ll be right outside if you need us.” He and Chewie left the room.

 ***************

Han did not like this, not one bit.

He paced back and forth outside the conference room, Chewbacca standing nearby with his bow caster in his great arms. Han had not missed the condescending, almost predatory expressions on the faces of Thorel’s male advisors as he and Chewie had left.

He turned to Chewie, “Did you see the way they got rid of us? Thinking if they isolate the women they’ll be able to push the deal their way.”

Chewie emitted an unrestrained wookie laugh. A good point, thought Han. If they thought they had eliminated the mental strength in the room they were going to have a rude awakening. Leia and Mothma weren’t going to be pushed around. But there was something else about this situation that didn’t feel right.

At least Thorel had the intelligence to make a good show of respect. And that was it. That was what he perceived was going on in there: a show. The Rylothians were hiding something. If they did make a deal through the Alliance Han predicted that it wouldn’t benefit the Alliance very much. Or maybe there was something worse at work here. They had already been in there for over an hour. He returned to his pacing.

At length they all emerged. Thorel and his entourage left first, their expressions much less smug, and a little grim. Leia and Mothma came out next, looking tired and doubtful.

Mothma was speaking to Leia, “I think they believed what you told them, but they still don’t seem ready to commit.”  
Leia nodded, “They aren’t offering to give us a tour of their ore processing facilities. I would have thought they would at least set that up during this meeting.” She sighed and looked at Han, speaking low, “There’s something else going on here.”

It placated him somewhat that she valued his opinion. He nodded a quiet agreement. “Now what?”

Lena approached them at this point. “The Rylothian day has ended and you must be tired. We have prepared rooms for you, if you will follow me.”

Han grabbed Leia by the arm at this point, “This is a bad idea. We should stay on board the shuttle, you’d be much safer.” She looked up at him, seeming to be startled by his concern. But she shook her head, “If we show that kind of distrust now they’ll be no chance at all to make this work. We have to play along, at least for tonight.”

She moved to follow the others. Threepio was engaging Lena in a one sided conversation about the obvious work and skill it must have taken to carve this palace out of the mountain side. Han reluctantly moved after them, falling in next to Chewie, who rumbled his agreement with Han that this was a bad idea.

****************************

Mon Mothma awoke with a violent start. She had not heard a scream like that for many years.

As she came fully awake, she recognized that the sound had come from Captain Solo’s room. Ulee and Leia were both up and were busying themselves intensely under a small light in the corner of their common sleeping chamber. Ulee was drawing different vials out of her medicinal carisack, and Leia was selecting from them and tapping their contents into a mug of warm water. Finally appearing satisfied, Leia rushed towards Han and Chewie’s room. Mothma wrapped a robe around herself and hurried to follow.

 

Chewie was standing in the middle of the room with his arms around Han, and Mothma could not be sure at first if the great wookie was restraining his friend or holding him up. Han had stopped screaming, but was shaking from head to toe, and clutching at the wookie’s arms.

“I’m f-f-fine, Ch-Chewie. J-just lemme g-go.”

Leia came up to him then, “Chewie sit him down.”

Han rebelled loudly. “I d-don’t need a n-n-nurse! Go away!”

They got him to sit down, and Leia thrust the mug she had prepared firmly into Han’s hand.

Her voice was steady, determined, “Drink this.”

Ulee had crawled lightly onto the bed behind Han, her eyes and face showing the pain and fear she was receiving from him. Mothma watched in fascination as she reached out gracefully with one hand and, closing her eyes, touched the back of Han’s head. As soon as she touched him, Han’s body seemed to lose its tension and he stopped shaking.

Leia’s hands guided the mug to his lips and he drank. His breathing calmed, and he relaxed back against Chewie, who had been making a low, soothing rumbling noise and continued to make it as Han returned to himself.

Mothma backed discreetly out of the chamber and stood just outside the door, still listening, but not wanting to intrude. Threepio doddered forward at this point, “What happened? Is Captain Solo all right? Is there anything I-“ But Mothma stopped him firmly from entering the chamber with one hand.

“He’s fine Threepio. Your assistance is not needed right now.”

Threepio regarded her with his glowing orbs, backing up and standing near the wall where he had been keeping watch. “oh.” He said, “very well Commander Mothma.”

Ulee came out then, walking toward her own bed looking a slightly paler blue than usual.

Threepio reacted immediately, “Mistress Ulee! Are you hurt?”

The girl smiled up at Threepio and shook her head. But her long sinewy tentacles seemed to be telling a different story, as they curled and uncurled fitfully at their ends. Mothma approached her and spoke soothingly,

“How about we make some of that tea for you?” she said, getting out another mug and looking at the vials of herbs left out from their recent preparations. She knew these ingredients well. She had been the one who had taught Leia to use them some years ago.

Sounds of an argument were coming from the other room.

“Stop trying to pick my brain, Leia.”

“These nightmares aren’t going to get any better unless you talk them out, Han.”

“Oh, right. And which medical journal told you that?”

There was a short moment of silence. When Leia spoke next there was a dangerous edge to her voice.

“I don’t need a medical journal to know what you’re going through. “

Han’s voice gained the same edge, and upped the ante. “You don’t know, Leia. You cannot possible understand what this is like!”

Leia’s floodgates opened. “WHAT DO YOU THINK THEY WERE DOING TO ME ON THAT DEATH STAR BEFORE YOU AND LUKE RESCUED ME? SERVING ME COCKTAILS?!”

All was silent then. Even Chewie’s gentle rumbling stopped. Mothma absently handed Ulee the finished mug of tea as they both gazed at the dark open chamber door. They could only wonder at the continued exchange that now occurred more quietly between two of the strongest willed people either of them had ever encountered.

*********

He was staring at her. Already barely recovered from his visceral reaction to his own nightmare, he felt shaken again.

Of course she’d been tortured. Why hadn’t he realized that? Vader would have questioned her about where the Rebel base was, and she would have resisted to her last breath. He remembered now what the months following the battle of Yavin had been like. What she had been like. Extremely short tempered, often with dark circles around her eyes. He’d thought these were just aspects of her personality and obsessive determination. He’d teased her about it ruthlessly. He shut his eyes at the memory of how blind he’d been.

But he still had trouble conceding the point, “I…didn’t know.”

Leia seemed to deflate. She gathered her legs close to her body and fixed her eyes on a painting on the opposite wall, her face softly illuminated by the low level recessed lighting. It suddenly dawned on Han that there was a Princess sitting on his bed in an iridescent white nightgown, with her long hair flowing loose around her delicate bare shoulders. His breath caught in his throat for a moment until he realized that she didn’t belong to him. The sight and the thought made his heart ache. And it tore at him even more to imagine anyone doing her harm.

“No one knew.” Said Leia, all edge to her voice gone. “I never told anyone.”

There was another silence, as she seemed to be slowly steeling herself.

“They used a mind probe.”

“Leia, you don’t have t-“

She rolled her eyes at him. “Just shut up and listen.” She said, and continued, turning her eyes back to the painting without really seeing it.

“Engineered nano invertebrates and sensitizing drugs. They were pretty bad. And there were other things…” she closed her eyes, then shook her head impatiently, finishing the thought “…that were worse. But the very worst part wasn’t the pain. The worst was waiting in my cell between sessions, not knowing what they were going to try next. “

“The worst dreams I had were memories of that, “ Leia closed her eyes “of having no control. Of being completely helpless against them.”

They sat silent for awhile. Chewbacca still sat behind Han, a large comforting presence for both of them. Leia turned to look at Han again.

“I know that what you went through was far more brutal, Han. But I understand at least enough to know that you won’t get over the memory until you talk about it.”

“How do you know that if you never told anyone about this?”

“Because I did tell one person.”

At this point several things happened at once. The painting suddenly fell from the wall behind Han’s bed as a door pushed open behind it and a sinewy green tentacled head pushed through into the room. The female Twi-lek before them was not one of the delicate, meek perfumed females they had seen throughout the palace; this girl was muscular, garbed in desert gear and covered in sand and grit.

Her eyes blazed at them as she spoke. “Commander Princess! You must to come with me now!”

Threepio cried out to them from the other room, “Mistress Leia! Something is wrong! Mistresses Ulee and Mothma have fainted!”

Chewie, Han and Leia were already on their feet, grabbing for their weapons. Chewie went to see to Ulee and Mothma, while Han faced off to the Twi-lek,

“Who are you?”

“At moment, your one hope.”

She removed three small gas masks from a small pack she carried and thrust them at Han and Leia before putting one on herself. Leia finally understood. As Chewie came back into the room with Ulee and Mothma slung unceremoniously over each shoulder, she noticed for the first time a hissing sound coming from the corner where she and Ulee had been making tea…

“knockout gas. One way or the other we’ve got to get out of here.”

Han looked at her, “Yeah, but do we follow her?”

Leia looked into the eyes of the Twi-lek girl who faced them, trying to stretch out with her feelings as Luke had told her to do. This was the presence she’d felt. She was definitely not one of Thorel’s people. This girl was a native, probably from a outland tribe, certainly not from the city. And certainly not an Imperial.

“I don’t think we have a choice.


End file.
